IF YOU KNEW
I remember
In the pre-dawn fog beside the river
Dad shoved me off, then he jumped in
He seldom spoke when we were in that boat
But when he did, his words sunk right in
So as the falling oak leaves
Buried my footprints like snowflakes in the wind
I asked my father, “Would you do it all again
If you knew how the story would end?"
‘Cause I’m standing in the same place where you stood back then
Would you go to Saigon
Take a bullet in the arm
Would you sell the family farm when the mill shut down
Would you marry my mother
Stay together for the kids
Would you make all the sacrifices I know you did
I asked my father, “Would you do it all again
If you knew how the story would end?”
Oh, If you knew how the story would end
I climbed up the hill in the pouring rain
Where the old oak tree still stood
Where my height and name at nine years old
Were still carved in the wood
And I let fly at the top of my lungs a prayer to the angry wind:
“Do you know how the story will end
Oh, Can you tell me how the story will end?”
I’ve been slogging down this hard road for so long
But will it all be worth it in the end
Should I push on around one more bend
Or give up and start over again
As I rowed that boat across the water
Where we caught the bass above his desk in the den
I asked my father, “Would you do it all again?”
As I scattered his ashes to the wind
Oh, as I scattered his ashes to the wind
Would you go to Saigon
Take a bullet in the arm
Would you sell the family farm when the mill shut down
Would you marry my mother
Stay together for the kids
Would you make all the sacrifices I know you did
I asked my father, “Would you do it all again
If you knew how your story would end?”
Oh, If you knew how your story would end
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Driving I-65 in the hammer lane
Pulling a load out of Tennessee
I’m “Keeping America Moving”
As America rolls past me
My granddaddy worked in a coalmine
His granddad worked in the fields
Ever since Cain struck Able down
We’ve set our shoulders to the wheel
But channel 19’s gone quiet, now
The pay ain’t what it used to be
Tired of breaking my back to make the rich man richer
But I got a kid back home to feed
CHORUS:
I got to get behind the wheel, get behind the wheel and drive
I got to get behind the wheel, get behind the wheel and drive
“Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, daddy, daddy when you coming home”
My boy says, “Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, daddy, daddy when you coming home”
Driving by Braille on the rumble strip
Chugging coffee more bitter than beer
The logbook says I got to pull over
But the sign says “you can’t sleep here”
My dispatch tells me to push on
All the way to the Alamo
“But you never worked a lick past 11 hours
If you’re asked by the highway patrol”
My back tire hisses like a rattlesnake
The jake brake croaks like a toad
Sirens go off when the rubber flies
Laying down gators in the road
[CHORUS]
[INTERLUDE]
One day the robots will rule the road
One day they’ll pump the good earth dry
So don’t follow in my footsteps, son
If you want to get a piece of the pie
When I die don’t spring for a tombstone
Just carve my name in a tree
I’ll be five miles short of kingdom come
Wherever I happen to be
Don’t you get behind the wheel, son, don’t get behind the wheel and drive
Don’t you get behind the wheel, child, no, don’t get behind the wheel and drive
GREYHOUND BOUND FOR ANYWHERE
She takes the pills from her pocket
Dumps them down the bathroom drain
Traces a heart on the foggy glass
Then crosses out the name
She hides her tears with sunglasses
Moves her scarf to cover the bruise
She strides to the last seat on the bus
Asks, “Mind if I sit next to you”
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
Trying to start over again
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
In the cold December rain
There’s a patch sewn on his backpack
For a friend lost in Afghanistan
A tan line around his finger
Where there used to be a wedding band
He quips, “I got two weeks severance
And not much left to lose
It’s my best chance to blow this town
Before I blow the rest on booze”
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
Trying to start over again
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
In the cold December rain
Some hours down the highway
As the rain turns to snow…
He says, “My life is like a snowglobe
That never settles down
That war knocked it off the mantle
And batted it around”
She says, “Maybe if I make it
Through this flood of pain
I’ll find it’s carved a deeper channel
To hold love again”
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
Christmas lights begin to glow
On a Greyhound bound for anywhere
In the cold December snow
In a café by the transfer station
As far as he was going to go
They share another a cup of coffee
After making angels in the snow
He says, “It’s funny how the world seems new
With all the hard parts smoothed in white”
He hugs her goodbye awkwardly
And steps into the night ...
Whoa,oh, oh. Whoa oh, oh. Whoa,oh, oh. Whoa oh, oh
She says, “driver wait a minute”
As she bounds out the door
She calls out his name
But he can’t hear her through the storm
She runs out of breath
Trudging fast as she can
She scribbles numbers on a napkin
And presses it into his hand
We Can Do It Again (One More Time)
Remember when we met and I was chasing my dream
The road was never too tough for you and me
Though we bathed in rivers and we slept in parking lots
You never had a dollar, I never had a dime
But we were deep in love and rich in time
You gave your all to give me my best shot
If we did it before, we can do it again, I know
If we did it before, we can do it again, I know
One more time, before the sunlight slips away
One more time, before tomorrow becomes today
One more time, don’t let the spark die in your heart
‘Cause it’s never too late to start something new
Now, trying to settle down hasn’t gone like we planned
I know you feel like you’re stuck in the sand
And sinking deeper with every passing week
But behind my socks in the back of the closet
There’s an old shoe box with your name on it
Where I kept the dreams you set aside when you met me
[PRE-CHORUS] [CHORUS]
So tune up your guitar, pack up the van
With the double sleeping bag, peanut butter and jam
It’s your turn time to shine, mine to be your backup man
You still don’t have a dollar, I still don’t have a dime
But if you got the moxie, I got the time
We may die broke, but at least we will die free
[PRE-CHORUS] [CHORUS]
Rest Easy
I spent my fifth summer at Grandma’s
Diving for pennies in the pool
She rubbed aloe on my sunburn
Brewed me sun tea to stay cool
We ran through the sprinkler
Till we soaked through our clothes
She made a poor man’s waterslide
With a tarp and a hose
When I skinned both my knees
In the gravel by the barn
She whispered these words in my ear
As I dried my tears in her arms:
CHORUS: “Rest easy, child
Know one thing for sure:
If you stumble and fall, I’ll pick you up off the floor
There’s hard times in this life
You must face on your own,
But rest easy, child, 'cause I’ve been there before.
Rest easy child
When you feel all alone
When you can’t go any further, I will carry you home.”
She said, “When I was 19, son
I had such a big head
Thought I'd change the world
But I changed diapers instead”
"But if I could do it over again
I’d do it just the same
This family’s worth more to me, son
Than any fortune or fame "
[CHORUS]
I grew up and moved away
But I never forgot.
She said, “It’s the love that you give that counts
Not the things that you got”
I wish I could’ve held her hand
In that hospital bed
And tell her how she changed my world
All the times that she said:
[CHORUS]
BRIDGE: Hey Yeah… Hey Yeah…
Wish Grandma could meet
my precious little girl
She’s got those curious eyes
And a head of rambunctious curls
When she runs herself ragged
Chasing butterflies by the barn
I whisper these words in her ear
As she falls asleep in my arms:
[CHORUS]
LOVE LETTER TO FLAGSTAFF
This one’s for the painter down at Beaver Street
Waiting tables past closing time
This one’s for the poet down at Fire Creek
Brewing coffee between her lines
This one’s for the nurse on the Mountain Line
Saving up for the homeowner dream
This one’s for the line cook sending his cash
Back to a home he hasn’t seen
For all those dreamers dancing on the rooftops downtown,
Here’s my love letter to Flagstaff town:
Remember when we skied by the moonlight
We stayed up watching meteors fill the sky
We lost our egos in the Canyon
We climbed the Peaks so our hopes could learn to fly, so high
So don’t grow so tall you shade the Mountain
Don’t you cut down your tallest pines
Don’t shave so clean that there’s no room left
For all these ragged hearts like mine
This one’s for the teacher at the theater
Running lights in her spare time.
This one’s for the student driving in from the Rez
Working nights at the check out line
This one’s for the singer doing bike repairs
Posting flyers for his band
This one’s for the river guide on the Square
Marching for our public lands
For all those dreamers dancing on the rooftops downtown,
Here’s my love letter to Flagstaff town:
Remember when we skied by the moonlight
We stayed up watching meteors fill the sky
We lost our egos in the Canyon
We climbed the Peaks so our hopes could learn to fly, so high
So don’t grow so tall you shade the Mountain
Don’t you cut down your tallest pines
Don’t shave so clean that there’s no room left
For all these ragged hearts like mine
Here’s my love letter to Flagstaff, my hometown